


A day to remember

by SrebrnaFH



Series: Double Pride Double Trouble - series [5]
Category: Das doppelte Lottchen | Lottie and Lisa - Erich Kästner, Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: High society being idiots, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Honour guard, Labour, Last minute panic, M/M, Military Uniforms, Military Wedding, Mina sings, Pregnancy, Singing, Teddy being Teddy, Usage of nincompoops and similar vocabulary, Wedding, family gathering, gay wedding, high society - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:35:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24845395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SrebrnaFH/pseuds/SrebrnaFH
Summary: Richard and Evan are getting married, finally :)Or, no. 4 of my One-shots for DPDT.Main story required to be read to understand this.
Relationships: Colonel Fitzwilliam/OC - Evan Summers, Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy, Georgiana Darcy/OC - Lucy Yang, OC - Mina Bennet/OC - Teddy Strickland
Series: Double Pride Double Trouble - series [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1273559
Kudos: 17





	A day to remember

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings in the end notes.
> 
> Also: looking for a beta for the next 3 stories!

"Henry, dear fellow," one of the fossils attempted a smile. "I am unsure what exactly is happening here. I saw your younger son accompanied by two other fellows and one very, well, _gravidas_ lady discussing something about the invitations and notices and rings and— Isn't there some kind of a mix-up? I mean—"

Henry Fitzwilliam, Lord of Matlock (number something-teen), father of two lovely sons and normally a very patient man, rolled his eyes.

"I'd think it would be rather obvious."

He managed not to grind his teeth too much. Thankfully, because the costs of dental work were absurd, even if one was an owner of nearly an entire county. Or maybe even worse then.

The fossil's wife stretched her equally petrified face in a grin as fake as their daughter's tan.

"I think, Aloysious, you should be more—"

"Henry, what the blast is going on!?"

And here came the _other_ kind of reaction.

Henry ground his teeth and counted to ten. Twice.

And prepared himself for yet another conversation with someone who simply Didn't Get It.

While William and Georgiana were the best allies Rick could have and Matthew (supported by Leanna, what a lovely child she was) would not allow anyone to speak a word against his brother, there was a certain kind of resistance to the idea of "one of our own boys" shacking up with another man. Heaven forbid, marrying one. How would that even work? Would one of them wear the dress?

(this question was always followed by a trill of giggles and burly snorts)

Henry had braved the stupid, the insipid, the not-so-innocently curious. He had braved the vicious, the catty and the venomous. He had even gone down to the parish church and had a small but pointed exchange with the parish priest and his assistants, who had apparently been lacing the lectures in the last weeks with some less than acceptable contents regarding Her Majesty's troops and their readiness for battle supposedly being highly dependent on who said troops chose to sleep with.

He hated having these conversations because it was all _so stupid_.

As in. Abysmally stupid.

If someone looked at his sons and had a sudden idea that Richard was, in the words of the old adage, the spare, or needed to produce some backup potential heirs, they could stuff their opinions in a place that would be impolite to mention in mixed company. Richard was a person of his own, born because he and Mathilda wanted a second child, and with life aims all of his own. He was just as valid in his choices as Matthew, and never expected to be a breeding stallion for the Fitzwilliams, any more than Matthew had ever been. The fact that Matthew had married a woman and that they had two well-grown sons had nothing to do with succession or the needs of the estate because Henry would have never looked at a human being this way. And certainly not at his sons or grandsons.

The fact that Richard, after having turned forty-three, had at last found someone willing to spend time with him — to spend _the rest of their life_ with him — was a miracle. That boy faced more terrifying challenges in a month that some of the active servicemen saw in a year. His very uniform was a living reminder of the fact that he could, potentially, get himself blown into smithereens at any given moment, during his normal working day.

Henry Fitzwilliam knew the mortality statistics for Richard's branch of service. Probably better than Richard did.

They were not bad.

But they were also worse than other branches.

"Grand-Uncle Henry? Are you alright?"

He blinked and turned.

One of William's girls was standing there, her face pinched in concern. He must have been silent long enough for the nincompoops to leave him and the poor child took interest in an older man just standing like this, in the middle of the courtyard.

And guessing from the tentative way of address, it was actually 'the London one', since Rose was never hesitant in calling him just 'uncle'.

"Hello, Wilhelmina. Thank you, I'm quite fine. Just thinking about—"

He trailed off into silence because it was hard to say. How to tell a fourteen-year-old that you're worried about her godfather getting blown up?

"Dad says someone has to go and talk reason into Uncle Richard because he tried and it isn't working," young Wilhelmina rolled her eyes in a spectacular way. "He said to find you or Uncle Matthew, and Uncle Matthew is now very busy talking to some politician or whatever, the one that looks like an ad for teeth whiteners."

Henry looked around and did, in fact, find his son in conversation with one of the locally active lobbyists for gas fracking or maybe sea base drilling - something that Leanna surely had leaflets about.

"Let's see what we can do then."

He offered his arm to young Wilhelmina, who curtsied with a grin and took it, talking in a hushed tone all the way to Rick's room.

"Dad said he is not ready to deal with this, even though he has _us_ because apparently we are better behaved and dress properly when needed without complaining. But Uncle Richard decided in the _last moment_ he doesn't want to get married in his dress uniform and that he needs a tux, so sent one of the - the valets? - looking for that tux, started undressing, which would take hours because of all these crazy decorations—"

Richard was, in fact, in a right state. Halfway through unbuttoning his dress uniform shirt, ignoring the way William was watching him with desperation. And Richard was shaking. Like a leaf.

"Rick, what is— why are you undressing?"

"It's too hot in this," his son frowned and they both turned to where he had tossed his jacket, rather carelessly.

"This should be hanging," Wilhelmina scolded them suddenly and picked up the heap of fabric, trying to straighten it out. "And, this is not very thick. I mean, maybe a bit thicker than my jacket, like—" the girl shook her head and held the garment out.

"Richard, it's not that warm out today and the tux will not be much thinner than this," William started reasonably, but Richard cut him off.

"Tux is more appro—"

"Bullshit," Will barked, surprising them all into silence. Wilhelmina frowned at her father, but didn't say anything, and Henry kept quiet, trying to understand what might have happened to get Richard into this kind of mood. "You are an active duty officer, you are entitled—"

Richard winced. And turned away, unbuttoning his cuffs.

"Evan was not allowed to wear his dress uniform," his grunted finally. "So I won't wear mine, either."

There was a loud, theatrical sigh and Wilhelmina thrust the jacket into Henry's hands.

"Make sure it doesn't get wrinkled," she just said and disappeared.

They looked at each other.

"What happened?"

"Evan got the notification from his old unit that he is not allowed to wear his uniform today. They just— Just wrote back at the last moment. He has a morning suit and even a tux because we didn't want to be standing around in full dress all day, and wanted to have photos in other— Anyway, he—"

"That's rather unfair of them, but they are entitled to this decision. I find it discourteous of them to send it back that late."

"Frigging rude," William muttered from where he was straightening Richard's tie.

"Well, but has Evan said anything about you not wearing yours?"

"No, I haven't."

They turned to the door, where Wilhelmina - and Rosalinde - were standing behind Evan, who was quite fetchingly dressed in his well-cut grey suit (William's tailor's work, most probably, judging from the similarity of the lines), part of his decorations pinned to his breast already.

"Love, you can't just— Richard?"

"Ev, I can't—"

Henry nodded towards William and they both exited the room, leaving the grooms to discuss the problem in detail. There was still an hour until the actual ceremony, time enough to iron whatever was chosen and get the boys in shape.

"Whose idea was it?"

"Mina's, but, like, Dad, this is obvious. I mean, Evan was kind of angry about the uniform, but he wanted Uncle Richard to wear his because it's— Well, they met when they were both soldiers, and he wanted this represented. And anyway, his old commander being spiteful doesn't mean the whole ceremony has to be done differently. There are still Uncle Richard's friends and all the Cadets that were invited that will be the honour guard, so—"

"Evan just has to tell him he doesn't resent Uncle Richard being in uniform," Wilhelmina provided, more quietly. "I think he was afraid it would be unfair to Evan if he had his and Evan couldn't."

William had certainly raised good girls - well, William and his Elizabeth, each separately— Whatever. Good girls. Very good girls. There was hope, if the next generation was made of children like that, or his own grandsons. Very good children, all around.

"I think your father and I can take it from here, eh, Will? You can run and check with your mother whether someone else doesn't need help?"

They looked at each other and then someone's phone pinged. Wilhelmina fished hers from a neatly hidden pocket - a pocket in a garden party frock, a happy thought indeed! - and blushed all pink as she checked the screen.

Rosalinde pulled the phone to herself with absolutely no compunction and whistled.

"The Cadets all came in proper dress uniforms, I see."

"Rose!"

He looked at William, who was now rubbing his face with a pained grimace.

"Run, but don't— Mina! Rose, make sure—!"

They were gone in a flash.

"William?"

"I just hope this boy will keep up his streak of keeping miraculously dirt-free," his nephew groaned. "They are both wearing makeup today, and if she leaves any lipstick on him—"

"Do I even want to know?"

William squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

"You'll see anyway."

He didn't press, but he looked down the corridor with curiosity.

"What about some tea then, hm?" William suggested finally. "Until these two— hash it out?"

"Tea, definitely. Or maybe something stronger—"

####

Little Wilhelmina had a great voice. He knew that Richard loved his musical theatre, but he hadn't expected Georgiana, Lucy and Wilhelmina to put together something like that - nearly a revue, in some ways. On the other hand, William's and Elizabeth's wedding had some lovely music - with just Georgiana and Wilhelmina providing it. So—

Mathilde sighed next to him and pulled out a handkerchief.

Their boy was finally getting married, the whole courtyard and gardens were full of people, the lost-and-found Darcy girl was singing "I Made It Through The Rain" and there was a hush over the crowd as Evan and Richard walked up to the not-really-an-altar set up in the middle of Mathilde's beloved rosarium, followed by Elizabeth (on William's arm) and Evan's diving partner, Owen. Behind them, holding the small box with the rings, strode the other Darcy girl. It was all too perfect.

The actual ceremony was short and not overly effusive, the lady celebrant was to the point and succinct, pausing as per plan, allowing Georgiana and Lucy to play arrangements of "Ca, C'est L'amour", "Night and Day" and a few other tunes Henry did not recognise, but enjoyed nevertheless. He would have to ask the girls for the list of the titles, just from curiosity.

And now the boys were turning to face each other, both tall and strong and so handsome, Richard's uniform imposing and Evan's suit sombre, their decorations gleaming in the sun, Evan's row of medals starkly visible against the dark grey - they were holding hands —

Henry pulled out his own handkerchief. It was too good. Both his boys were married, to good people who loved them, and he felt— Well, he felt quite, quite content. Life was very good to them.

Rosalinde stepped up with her box and boys picked their rings - without any mishaps! - and then Richard was holding Evan's left hand and kissing it, before slipping the ring on.

"I will never forget the day we met," Richard's voice carried over the greenery. "It was something from a dream. For days later, I couldn't understand what it was that I was feeling - me, a grown man, years and years of service, suddenly falling in love like a kid. But I did. And I never fell out of that love, and I never will. I am most grateful that you agreed to be my husband."

Judging by Evan's slow, long inhale, he was in a dire need of a hankie himself.

"It's not every day that a handsome munitions engineer just falls at one's feet, so I will certainly never forget that. I was halfway in love with you by the end of that afternoon, and completely and utterly besotted by the end of our first date. And I never looked back. Meeting you was the very best thing that had ever happened to me. Being your husband will hopefully be even better."

There was kissing. And being pronounced husbands. And some more kissing. Signing the register. Some more kissing. Some tears.

And then little Mina was singing again, and Richard and Evan were walking back through the crowd, all to the sounds of "Look to the rainbow" rolling over the heads of the gathered guests.

Some more tears.

The honour guard comprised of Richard's unit and the Cadets stood in two rows, saluting the grooms as they walked up to the garden gate, where Evan pulled Richard into a long, heartfelt kiss.

Tears.

####

The wedding was bloody fantastic, if Henry could say so, in the privacy of his thoughts. The food was great, the music was chosen with care, there was space for everyone, sitting or standing or dancing. There was a place for the old guard and a dancing floor, a table for children (minded by two very efficient young ladies) and freedom for the younger people to wander around in the gardens... and if some got 'lost' here and there, well, he wasn't their parent, was he?

Even the selection of people present was quite good. They had discussed the guest list extensively over the half year that led up to this day, and some names had been removed from it upon the common family agreement that there was no reason to even let these particular people onto the grounds. The ones left on the list were divided into several categories:

* family who were supportive - William's whole troop, Matthew and Leanna and their boys, and a few scattered cousins from Mathilde's side

* family who were neutral and not expected to be rude about it

* closest friends and colleagues (including nearly everyone from Richard's unit and quite a few former unit mates from Evan's old base - ones that did get the day off)

* a choice of politically, financially, socially and business-wise linked acquaintances, with families etc etc, who were not expected to be open-minded or inclusive or kind, but who were invited so that they saw Henry's support for his son and son-in-law and learn they'd bloody well better accept it, or face the consequences (and considering that many of them _had_ business connections to William or Henry himself, they had quite a bit of a leverage)

He knew that William was keeping very close track of who said what and to whom, and these two infernal daughters of his were _everywhere_ , seemingly innocent and cute and listening in on all the inappropriate conversations, faithfully reporting to their father on everything they heard. If anything _interesting_ came up, Matthew and William would walk up to such a person, striking up a conversation and ensuring that everyone knew that the family stood behind Rick and Evan, whatever the particular crusty old blowhard might think about "these wholly inappropriate shenanigans". One particular woman who tried to be rude towards young Georgiana and her lovely wife found herself very firmly spoken to by Mathilde. And when Mathilde _spoke_ to someone, they knew it was the time to sit down and shut up.

It was maybe underhanded of Will to use his daughters so, but both girls adored Rick and Evan and they had been so involved in that last week of preparation, with Wilhelmina, Georgiana and Lucy practising the music, Rosalinde checking daily (twice or even three times) that the rings were there, accessible and not glued to anything, that it was hard not to see them as co-responsible for the whole thing.

Elizabeth had confessed that they had initially been planning to get the girls back from their summer camp just a bare day before the ceremony, but that they both _insisted_ they had to be there for their uncles, so they had cut the camp short by a week and Darcys came to Matlock, all six of them, to take some pressure of the last days off from Rick and Evan - and Mathilde and Leanna.

In that short week many things were finalised, closed and done so much more effectively because of that additional help from the Darcys' side. A variety of documents were signed and processed with the support of helpful lawyers, ensuring Evan's and Richard's shared ownership of one of the houses on the property (what used to be the dower house at some point), for them to have their separate household, apart from Richard's flat on the base. William had something of a stag night set up for the boys - a shared one - claiming this as his duty of the husband of the best woman (who bowed out, claiming indisposition). Said best woman, both girls and Leanna had spent the same evening bonding over the last-minute task of rescuing the wedding cake. Despite exact orders and specific choice the boys had made, it had arrived veritably flooded with massive amounts of chocolate, which Evan was apparently badly allergic to. All four had ensconced themselves in the kitchens, with Elizabeth and Leanna creating large batches of replacement icing and attaching sugar flowers, marzipan leaves and other little decorations everywhere, to make up for the parts they had to remove, while the girls recycled the stripped-off chocolate into several batches of rather luscious muffins that were now displayed in a neatly organised pyramid on one of the side tables.

As they were silently surveying the milling crowd, Wilhelmina sidled up to her father and pulled his sleeve. William listened in to the message and frowned, looking at the boy that had followed his daughter and was now standing two steps behind her. It was one of the Cadets that Richard had invited—

"You've heard it too, Theodore?"

The boy nodded nervously.

"I'll be back in a moment, Uncle. Matthew, come, we'll need to remove someone. Apparently, some are still mentally in the last century.."

Henry looked in the wake of his son and his nephew, chewing on his lip, but then turned to Wilhelmina and— Theodore, apparently? Who were now standing much closer than before, and the boy was — oh, well. That was interesting. They were holding hands.

_How sweet._

"Would you introduce me to your friend, Wilhelmina?"

The girl startled a bit - they had apparently forgotten about him. Hah.

"Uhm. Yes. Teddy, this is my Grand-Uncle Henry, Uncle Richard's father. And this is Teddy, he's— Well, Dad doesn't like me saying it—"

"Ah, so you are the miraculously dirt-resistant boy William mentioned earlier?"

Both kids flushed furiously red at that.

"Well, probably. Teddy has a tendency to get out of various scrapes suspiciously clean."

"I got _dusty_ during your parents' wedding, Starlight," the boy corrected. "Um. Sorry, sir. Yes, Theodore Strickland. It's an honour to meet you."

"It's very nice to meet you, Theodore. Wait a moment—" he frowned, thinking, why would— "Ah, the boy who found the ring!"

"Or rather, the boy who saved the entire ceremony, after Jane Bingley nearly knifed it to death with a pink multitool," Richard joined them suddenly. "Cadet Strickland."

"Sir."

"At ease, Cadet. Mina, has this lout danced with you already?"

It was actually fun to watch as they both blushed and then looked back into each others' eyes.

"We were mostly talking, Uncle Richard," Wilhelmina laughed. "I didn't even have time to sit down yet!"

"Well then, maybe I should introduce you to someone who _will_ definitely dance with you? I mean, you have met Matthew's sons? They just came back to England today early morning, so—"

"I didn't even—"

"Tobias! Rafe! Come on, you need to meet your little cousin!"

Henry caught the moment when Wilhelmina rolled her eyes and then - yes, definitely - stuck her tongue out at Richard.

"I'm afraid that doesn't make you look any more mature, Starlight," Theodore commented quietly.

"Don't be obnoxious, _Theodore_ , or I _will_ go dancing with someone else."

"Your father had _very_ definitely ordered me yesterday to make sure you have a good day, so I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave my side, since there is nobody else here who could poten—"

Wilhelmina had apparently learnt some rudiments of boyfriend management, since Theodore was now silenced with the oldest way known to man. Or woman, as was the case.

"Tobias, Rafe— Oh, seriously, I leave the two of you for a minute and I find you in a compromising position like this! Now you'll have to marry her, Strickland. Father, I'll call you as a witness if this young scoundrel tries to weasel out of this situation."

Wilhelmina snorted with laughter, pushing her boyfriend away a bit.

"If that was all that was needed—"

"Well, it would probably need to wait a few years—"

They both fell silent. And blushed, in synchronisation.

It was all too sweet.

And Tobias and Rafael were grinning like madmen.

"So, this is our little cousin? Rose's _younger_ sister?"

Wilhelmina frowned at them. Up at them. And sighed.

"Seriously, why is everyone in this family so annoyingly tall? Yes, Rose's sister. It should be pretty obvious, right? What I'm wondering about is why has Rose never actually mentioned that we have some cousins on this side..."

"Well," Henry coughed. "We _did_ keep reasonable distance from Pemberley as long as my sister resided there, so Rose had met them twice - or three times? - maybe what, three years ago? And this last year they had both been working with MSF, so—"

"Doctors?" Mina looked at them searchingly.

"A trauma nurse," Rafe corrected.

"Epidemiologist," specified Toby.

"Cool. Yeah. I'm, like. Mina Darcy. Which you probably already know. And this is Teddy, my boyfriend."

"One of my best cadets," Richard added, "so you are not to threaten or pester them in a misplaced attempt at familial protectiveness."

"Yeah because Uncle Richard had already tried that and it doesn't end well," Wilhelmina added sweetly.

"Oh? And how does it end?"

"With being compared to Aunt Catherine. Nobody wants that."

Rafe grimaced, as if he had bitten into a lemon.

"Yeah. Nobody wants _that_. Nice to meet you, Teddy."

Wilhelmina lasted exactly half a minute after that, before she whisked her boyfriend away towards the dance floor. Apparently, the concentrated _concern_ that Richard, Rafe and Toby emanated despite Richard's own warning was too much for her to withstand.

Henry traced her and her boyfriend with his eyes, curious as to what exactly was her plan, but they got lost in the dancing crowd quite quickly. Nevermind. Both Darcy girls seemed to be immensely sensible and Wilhelmina could be expected to behave adequately to the occasion.

"I feel old," Rafe snickered. "Uncle Richard getting married is one thing, but little cousins having boyfriends..."

"Yeah, we almost lost the hope for Uncle Richard, but man, this is depressing."

"What do you mean 'lost hope'...?"

Richard was looking at his nephews in suspicion and Henry simply _knew_ what was coming.

"You know. You are getting older."

"Showing an odd little grey hair."

"Just... ageing. Like fine wine."

"Nothing wrong about it, just—" Rafe shrugged innocently. "We though you should maybe—"

"Get on with it. Before you are off the market."

"But if Evan is into well-weathered pyromaniacs—"

"That's his prerogative."

"Ooh, I will show you well-weathered," Richard stepped closer, hunching over. "Getting older? Grey hair? Fine wine? _Off the market_?"

The boys took a few steps back.

"I dearly hope so. I mean, that you are off the market."

Evan was watching them with a little smile, and Henry had no idea when he had gotten there.

Richard sniffed.

"Well. I am. But not due to _age_. I chose to leave. In style."

"Let's now dance, husband."

"Indeed, let's."

"We can leave these youngsters to their petty squabbles."

"Most appropriate."

Rafe and Toby exchanged a look and an eyeroll before they disappeared in the crowd.

Henry sat back, watching Richard being waltzed around the dancing floor by very effectively leading Evan.

"It is good to see our boy settled," Mathilde breathed as she sat next to him.

"Very good. Jolly good."

"Everything was just as it should have."

"Very appropriate."

"Anna-Marie will never bother any lesbian couple again, I hope."

"Ah. How nice."

"And we have to rework the list for the next gala."

"Who is getting uninvited?"

"William has a list."

"How very effective of him."

"Indeed."

"His Elizabeth is a delightful woman."

"That she is."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"A boy or a girl?"

"I don't know - I don't think William knows."

"Leanna is accepting bets, if you wish to join in."

"Tilde!"

"What? They keep calling the baby 'Alex' and 'they'. What kind of a name even is Alex?! They are doing this on purpose, to annoy everyone..."

"Tilde, our son just got married to a man. Do you think that the gender of our nephew's baby is all that important, in the grand scheme of things?"

His wife sent him an annoyed glare.

"You are no fun," she grumbled.

"And you are getting on Elizabeth and William's nerves. Leave them be. Watch our sons dance."

Richard and Evan were taking turns leading, now switching into a Viennese Waltz that took them across the dance floor.

"By the way—" Mathilde took a look around. "Where are Elizabeth and William?"

He frowned.

####

"That was a mistake," she hissed. "Should have told Richard to— to ask Georgiana— or someone else— Best woman, my ass—!"

"You weren't doing anything strenuous, Lizzy," he squeezed her hand. "And we had three more weeks, by calculation."

"Calculations— Calculations are— known to be wrong!"

"Richard will be so disappointed not to hear your speech."

"Richard— should be happy— this didn't _start_ during my speech!"

"There is that."

Lizzy squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath.

"Where are the girls?" she asked finally.

"With Lucy. She will get them home later. They wouldn't be allowed in the ward anyway, filthy teenagers that they are," Georgiana reminded them from the driver's seat. "Three minutes to the hospital, Lizzy. Will, all documents ready?"

He patted his pockets and sighed with relief.

"And we have the bag in the trunk, because Liz is paranoid, which is good in cases such as this. OK, you two stay here and let me find someone to help."

They parked (crookedly) as close to the entrance as possible, and Georgiana, in her silver-blue dress and dancing slippers, sprinted towards the door.

Elizabeth sighed and relaxed minutely.

"This baby is going to be an early riser," she murmured. "Early riser, avid runner—" she gasped.

"Liz?"

"My waters just broke," she moaned. "William, this is going _fast_."

####

William and Elizabeth weren't there, but Lucy's "Lizzy felt a bit poorly" assuaged Richard's anxiety. Temporarily. If Liz went to lie down and William was watching her, everything was fine, and they would re-emerge when they felt like it.

He pushed this concern to the backburner, distracting himself by conversations with his colleagues, schoolmates and family, as usual on a gathering of this kind. After all, as grooms, their social duty was to talk to nearly everyone, so, he kept to that particular duty with dedication.

That is, until he saw Mina and Rose sitting in a corner of a secluded gazebo, holding hands, with Teddy hovering over them, obviously uncertain what to do.

"Girls? What happened? Where—"

Mina shook her head.

"Mom's waters broke," Rose blurted out. "Aunt Georgie and Dad took her to Chesterfield, and—"

He felt a bit faint and pulled up a chair.

"I though there was a lot of time still left," he whispered, aghast. "I would have never asked her if there was a risk—"

"Mom was surprised, too," Mina added, eyes firmly on the phone. "Dad, Uncle Richard is here. Do you— Ooh, no, they—"

"William?" he leaned closer. "William, what the blazes— Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't want to disrupt the evening," William's tinny voice came over the speakers. "I'll call you later— Elizabeth? Damn—"

He gathered the girls closer, as they listened to sounds coming over the speaker.

Steps.

Beeps.

Someone's indistinct voice.

And a tiny, tiny cry. More like that of a kitten than of a human being.

####

Nothing was traditional or strictly set about the agenda of his brother's wedding. First they were married in the rosarium, then there was more of a sprawled garden party than anything else, then there was dancing, and now Richard expected them all to get gathered in one place to listen to the speeches.

Matthew loved his younger brother, he more than accepted Evan as his brother-in-law (he thought him a phenomenal fellow with a great gift of storytelling, and the places the man had dived in...!), but he was of an opinion that Richard expected way too much from his guests. Gathering in one place, after everyone had eaten and drunk and got relaxed...? No way.

But he put his back into it and started directing people to the main tented lawn, where the tables were placed, assisted in this effort by Leanna and several of Richard's military friends.

There was a conspicuous lack of William, who usually took part in these things, and that worried him a bit. After all, Elizabeth was, well, more than advanced in her state, and—

"Friends! Family! As the father of one of the grooms, I wish to thank you for attending in such numbers this little event of ours. Sadly, Evan's father is not here with us, so he cannot join me in wishing you all the best for the rest of the evening and regaling you with some of, traditionally, terrible childhood stories. I will spare Richard then, since anyway, most of you know his— Well, as I promised, I won't go into details. Therefore, I cede my place to Evan's best man."

Owen stood up and said a few words, thanking everyone for being so welcoming and sharing a short story about Evan's _gushing_ about Richard after the first day they met, "...and I thought it was rather terribly cliché, meeting the love of your life during a Pride parade, of all things, but now, look at them, it works! Maybe more people will start participating, with such an example like these two!"

There was a round of applause, after which Richard stood up.

Matthew frowned.

No Elizabeth.

No William.

And both Darcy girls were sitting in their places, instead of somewhere down the table, with other teens.

"Elizabeth was supposed to deliver a speech," his brother started softly, and everyone quieted. "I asked Liz to be my best woman, almost a year ago now, because I thought it appropriate, what with the impact she had had on our family. What we didn't predict at the time, well, is some things going slightly— not as planned. Therefore Liz and Will are not here right now, and Liz cannot be sarcastic and witty and tell you any funny stories about me, even though I'm sure she has a bunch of them written down on some cue cards. Right now Liz is sleeping off a huge effort she had made over the last few hours. Mina?"

One of the twins stood up, glanced at her phone and read, her voice carrying clearly over the lawn, "This is the text I got from Dad. It says: Alexander Evan Darcy, born at 16:25, first of September 2018. "

Well then. It was definitely going to be an evening to remember.

**Author's Note:**

> TW:  
> Homophobic language  
> Labour (non-graphic)


End file.
